WASHINGTON, D.C. - Aimed at improving the reading skills of primary school children in the country, the U.S. and India launched a reading initiative. The READ (Read-Engage-Achieve-Dream) Alliance is a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development and India’s Center for Knowledge Studies (CKS). “The moment a child learns to read is the moment he or...

she obtains the single most important skill that one needs to have the best possible chances in life,” said U.S. acting Charge d’Affaires Michael Pelletier, while launching READ’s innovation challenge. “I am confident that the READ alliance will help put millions of Indian children on a path of life-long learning,” Pelletier added. The event also saw the release of the synopsis of CKS’s “7 steps to reading” report, which provides a plan for improving the reading abilities of Indian children.